A large-language model (LLM) built to meet the needs of the Deaf community, translating between signed and spoken language, is the aim of a new project led by the University of Surrey.   SignGPT: Building Generative Predictive Transformers for Sign Language has been awarded £8.45m from the UK Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council. The five-year project will build tools to allow spoken language to be automatically translated into photo-realistic sign language and video of sign language to be translated into spoken language – a complex translation problem that is yet to be solved.  Surrey ...

Urbanisation is rapidly transforming landscapes worldwide, becoming a key driver of global biodiversity loss. It often impacts biodiversity negatively by creating selective environments that limit species diversity in urban compared to natural habitats. Amidst this challenge, understanding and enhancing urban blue-green infrastructure is critical. Garden ponds are small yet significant water features that are increasingly common in urban areas. They offer numerous ecosystem services, like aesthetic purposes, microclimate regulation, and habitats for ornamental species. However, their role in supporting ...

“Our study contributes to the development of a DNAm biomarker that integrates conventional BC risk factors to better reflect the risk for BC subtypes, promoting epigenetically targeted preventive interventions tailored to aged individuals with high risk.” BUFFALO, NY- January 21, 2025 – A new research paper was published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) on December 5, 2024, Volume 16, ...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21, 2025 – If you’ve ever tossed a generous pinch of salt into your pasta pan’s water for flavor or as an attempt to make it boil faster, you’ve likely ended up with a whitish ring of deposits inside the pan. A group of scientists from the University of Twente in the Netherlands and the French National Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE), inspired by this observation during an evening of board games and pasta dinner, wondered what it ...

For the first time, astronomers have traced a fast radio burst (FRB) to the outskirts of an ancient, dead, elliptical galaxy — an unprecedented home for a phenomenon previously associated with much younger galaxies. Detailed in two complementary studies led by Northwestern University and McGill University, the discovery shatters assumptions that FRBs solely emanate from regions of active star formation. The new observational evidence, instead, hints that the origins of these mysterious cosmic events might be more diverse than ...

Instead of relying on energy-hungry reactors to generate high temperatures and pressure, researchers are looking underground at Earth’s natural heat and forces to cook up ammonia for fertilizer. In a proof-of-concept study, published January 21 in the Cell Press journal Joule, researchers generated ammonia by mixing nitrogen-laced water with iron-rich rocks—without any energy input or CO2 emission. This new recipe may lead to a more sustainable alternative to current methods, theoretically churning out enough ammonia for 2.42 million years.  The idea stems from an unusual geological phenomenon observed in the 1980s in Mali, West Africa. Locals discovered a well ...

What's Behind Preterm Birth? Scientists Just Found a Big Clue   UCSF researchers discovered a molecular timer that gets activated in the first days of pregnancy and influences when mice give birth.   A typical human pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, but most parents know this number is only a rough estimate.   Babies are born on a seemingly unpredictable timeline, with a normal pregnancy ranging from 38 to 42 weeks. And 10 percent of all births are preterm, meaning they occur before 37 weeks of gestation, which puts babies at risk of a host of complications.  Now, UC San Francisco researchers have discovered a molecular timer in mice that plays a role in controlling ...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21, 2025 – Greenhouses and open farms that welcome visitors to purchase locally grown produce and meat have become increasingly important to food productivity. Not only are farmers looking for ways to monitor conditions to help improve greenhouse crop growth and yield, but keeping harvested food fresh in storage conditions is also a major concern. Smart sensor technology, monitoring and controlling temperature and humidity, plays an essential role in producing enough food to meet the ever-increasing demand ...

A collision happens. Someone is hurt, a head injury, a concussion. Just as the first responders arrive to help the person, inside the brain, another “crew” of responders is busy clearing debris and repairing injured tissue. This crew is called the microglia - the immune cells of the central nervous system. Microglia are imperative to maintaining neuronal function by clearing toxins in the brain and central nervous system. But if they are overactive, they can damage neurons instead and, in some cases, have been found to promote the progression of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. During ...

About The Study: This cohort study demonstrated that good response to pediatric obesity treatment was associated with reduced long-term morbidity, such as type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. Additionally, a link between pediatric obesity treatment effectiveness and lower incidences of mortality in young adulthood was observed; however, effective pediatric obesity treatment was not associated with adult depression or anxiety, highlighting their distinct nature despite frequent coexistence. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Emilia Hagman, PhD, email emilia.hagman@ki.se To access the embargoed study: Visit our ...

About The Study: This cohort study found that key sociodemographic, health care, and clinical factors are associated with receipt of semaglutide, a novel glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist medication, in those without diabetes. These findings suggest that insurance plan type and structure may be a crucial intervention point for improving equity in obesity treatment access.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Andrew C. Stokes, PhD, email acstokes@bu.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.55222) Editor’s ...

EMBO announces that ten life scientists have been selected to receive EMBO Installation Grants. These grants support group leaders, who are in the early stages of setting up their laboratories, to strengthen the life sciences in countries participating in the scheme. Two new installation grantees will establish laboratories in Croatia, one in Czechia, one in Estonia, two in Greece, three in Poland and one in Portugal. “EMBO Installation Grants offer flexible funding, extensive networking opportunities and practical support for life scientists pursuing ambitious research projects,” says EMBO Director Fiona Watt. ”We ...

INDIANAPOLIS -- With medical advances, more than 169,000 people in the United States are living with metastatic breast cancer. Addressing debilitating symptoms has become increasingly crucial. Fatigue remains a significant challenge, affecting up to 63 percent of patients and severely impacting daily functioning. A study demonstrates the effectiveness of telephone-delivered acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in reducing fatigue’s interference with functioning and improving the quality of life for survivors of metastatic breast cancer. ACT is a behavioral intervention that has shown promise in pilot studies in advanced cancer. ...

Miami (January 21, 2025) – Chronic lower respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics released its “Deaths: Leading Causes for 2022” final report, ranking the 10 leading causes of death. COPD comprises several conditions, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and can be caused by genetics and irritants like smoke or pollution. Symptoms ...

Alcohol sales spike after a public mass shooting, according to a study. The increase in alcohol consumption could further increase firearm-related violence in affected communities. Nicholas R. Buttrick and colleagues analyzed data from 35,000 alcohol retailers, covering more than half of all American grocery and drug-store purchases from 2006–2019, and found that a public mass shooting in a community predicts a 3.5%–5.5% increase in weekly alcohol sales for at least two years. The effect is found for public shootings; mass shootings in private homes did not affect alcohol sales. The authors attribute ...

Researchers have identified peptides that can help remove microplastics from the environment by combining biophysical modeling, molecular dynamics, quantum computing, and reinforcement learning. The ultimate goal of the work is peptide-based technologies that can find, capture, and destroy microscopically tiny plastic particles.  Microplastics, plastic particles smaller than 5 mm, are ubiquitous pollutants, found everywhere from human breastmilk to Antarctic snow. Fengqi You and colleagues used a range of tools to identify peptides ...

A 2022 survey of Palestinians and Israelis identifies a set of peace deals that would be preferable to the status quo for majorities on both sides of the conflict.   Between March and May of 2022, Elisa Cavatorta and colleagues asked nationally representative samples of 1,197 Palestinians and 679 Israelis to rank hypothetical peace agreements. Each agreement consisted of eight components, varied in a controlled manner. This methodology enabled the calculation of the strength of preference for each component and the overall acceptability of 256 potential ...

Plastics are undeniably useful materials that have found their way into virtually all human activities. However, with yearly global plastic production exceeding 400 million tons, the environmental threat posed by increased plastic consumption and disposal, contributing to its pollution, is also bigger than ever. Considering that only one-tenth of all plastic waste is recycled, new technologies that can help tackle this growing problem are urgently required. Catalytic recycling techniques, such as hydrogenolysis and hydrocracking, are emerging chemical processes that can break down plastic waste into simpler components ...

Antibiotics, antivirals, vaccinations and anti-inflammatory medication are associated with reduced risk of dementia, according to new research that looked at health data from over 130 million individuals. The study, led by researchers from the universities of Cambridge and Exeter, identified several drugs already licensed and in use that have the potential to be repurposed to treat dementia. Dementia is a leading cause of death in the UK and can lead to profound distress in the individual and among those caring for them. It has been estimated to have a worldwide economic cost in excess of US$1 trillion dollars. Despite intensive ...

EUGENE, Ore. — Jan. 21, 2025 — Increased exposure to glyphosate, one of the most widely used herbicides in the United States and much of the world, harms infant health in U.S. agricultural counties, according to a new study by two University of Oregon economists. In a paper published Jan. 14 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Emmett Reynier and Edward Rubin showed that a dramatic increase in the use of glyphosate in U.S. counties most suitable for genetically engineered crops lowered ...

Are dogs really the key to better health and a happier life? In this new study, dog owners were invited to describe the biggest benefits and challenges of dog ownership. The commitments and responsibilities of having a dog were found to be both a joy and a burden, highlighting the importance of making a conscious adoption choice. The pet dog population has been growing worldwide. Often benefiting from good press in mainstream media, dog ownership is generally assumed to improve human lives, providing companionship and boosting well-being. While bringing a dog into the family does come with ...

After millennia as a carbon deep-freezer for the planet, regional hotspots and increasingly frequent wildfires in the northern latitudes have nearly canceled out that critical storage capacity in the permafrost region, according to a new study published in Nature Climate Change.  An international team led by Woodwell Climate Research Center found that a third (34 percent) of the Arctic-boreal zone (ABZ)—the treeless tundra, boreal forests, and wetlands that make up Earth’s northern latitudes—is now a source of carbon to the atmosphere. That balance sheet is made up of carbon dioxide (CO₂) uptake from plant photosynthesis and CO₂ ...

A study recently published by researchers from the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau) and the Stroke Unit of Sant Pau Hospital in the Journal of Lipid Research provides new evidence on the essential role of the qualitative properties of lipoproteins, such as LDL and HDL, in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases, including ischaemic stroke. The findings underscore the importance of going beyond traditional quantitative cholesterol levels to evaluate the risk of these pathologies. Dr ...

Bladder cancer has a cure rate of over 90% when detected early, but it has a high recurrence rate of 70%, necessitating continuous monitoring. Late detection often requires major surgeries such as bladder removal followed by artificial bladder implantation or the use of a urine pouch, significantly lowering the patient’s quality of life. However, existing urine test kits have low sensitivity, and cystoscopy, which involves inserting a catheter into the urethra for internal bladder examination, is both painful and burdensome. This highlights the urgent need for a simple yet accurate diagnostic technology for patients. The research team led by Dr. Youngdo Jeong of the Center for Advanced ...

Researchers at the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University found that these individuals also report experiencing lower quality healthcare than both autistic and non-autistic people whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth (cisgender). The findings have important implications for the healthcare and support of autistic transgender/gender diverse (TGD) individuals. This is the first large-scale study on the experiences of autistic TGD people and the results are published today in Molecular Autism.   Previous research suggests that both autistic people and TGD people separately have poorer healthcare experiences ...